Teammates: How Silver Met Blaze
by TwilaStryker
Summary: This is my version of how Silver and Blaze met. Blaze is constantly teased for her fire powers, and Silver makes it his job to protect those who are bullied... told through Silver's point of view. OneShot.


Some say people never change; I think it's the exact opposite. We're always changing, responding to our surroundings, and you can't expect us to do the exact same things we did when we were younger. Take my best friend, Blaze the Cat, for example.

I met Blaze about three or four years ago. In those days, I randomly roamed the town of Emerald where we lived. I was quite responsible for a ten-year-old, as you might be able to see. But my being on my own transformed me into what some might call a "goody-two-shoes"- one who always focused on doing what was right, never straying beyond that fine printed line, afraid of the consequences.

Only one thing kept me from that 'goody two-shoe' status. It was my sense of justice. The one- and seemingly only- thing that got me mad was seeing injustice. Seeing kids being bullied was the worst. At first, I wasn't able to do anything, just fume silently as I watched the torture. But then I began to teach myself to fight. To defend. I wanted to defend those who couldn't themselves. Protect them from the bullies.

This had its benefits and disadvantages, of course. On the bright side, I no longer had to sit by and watch anymore.

But the people I protected became more afraid of me than the bully they'd been assaulted by. Apparently they were scared by a person who jumped in to fight their battles. So, although I became strong, I was lonely. I had no friends- but plenty of enemies. It didn't help that I was arrogant and naïve, either.

But the day I met Blaze was a turning point for both of us, whether we knew it then or not.

A teenager had cornered Blaze against the side of a building. It immediately caught my attention: no teenagers hung out with the younger kids, hardly even if they were related. One look at the situation told me "bad news". The bully had something shiny- a jewel of some sort in his hand, and was teasing Blaze with it. Every time she tried to jump up and grab it, the boy yanked the jewel just out of her reach. "I thought the fire-cat was supposed to be tough," He taunted.

Blaze took a moment to stare at the boy and spun around once, kicking the boy in the shin. He exclaimed in pain and hopped up and down on one leg, rubbing his leg. In anger he threw a punch at Blaze; I let out a breath I didn't know I'd held as she ducked just in time. The boy's hand met brick wall and his face twisted in pain.

It was an opening. I gathered up courage and found the voice to shout. "Hey, cut it out!" I called. The bully and Blaze both jerked their heads in my direction. "Quit picking on people," I continued. I had their attention now, and I kept it as I walked over and grabbed Blaze's arm, guiding her off the wall and to stand next to me. The boy scowled. "What're you going to do, brat?"

_What am I going to do? _My mind was spinning out different ideas a mile a minute. The only one that I could actually do was based on an assumption… but it would have to do. "I'm going to make your hand hurt even worse than it is," I said defiantly, stepping forward to stare up at the teenager. In one swift movement I merely slapped his injured hand with my own gloved hand. He yelped in pain and threw his other fist at me. I wasn't as lucky as Blaze; the punch connected and I stumbled, falling backward into Blaze's arms.

The bully must have thought he'd killed me or something, because he ran off.

The left side of my face where he had punched me was already beginning to feel sore and numb. "Nothing but a chicken," I grunted, struggling to stand up straight. Blaze took a few steps backward, giving me room. Finally I remember my manners. "Thank you for catching me…" I thanked her, gently touching my left eye. I knew it was going to be black and bruise; it was even already starting to swell.

Blaze spoke so quietly at first I couldn't hear her. But she stepped back forward and moved my hand away from my eye, examining my injury. "It's not too bad- just a black eye," She said, stepping back again.

I sighed and fought the urge to bring my hand up to my face again. "I'm supposed to help you, not the other way around."

"That's okay, I'm fine," She studied me quizzically.

It seemed to be the day to forget any manners I may have possessed. _Introduce yourself, _my brain snapped at me. "Silver," I said, and mentally slapped myself in the forehead. _Be polite, use complete sentences! _"My name is Silver."

Blaze smiled shyly at my awkwardness and bent down to pick up the jewel the bully had dropped. "My name is Blaze…" After a few moments of silence, she straightened and examined me again. "Maybe you should put something on your eye…" She thought aloud.

"You're probably right," I said, putting my hand up to my face. It stung, so I yanked it away. "Will I see you later?"

Blaze twirled her jewel absentmindedly in her palm. "I dunno…" She said, sounding distracted.

"Oh." I don't know why I was shocked by those words. I heard them all the time, after all- she didn't want to see me again. She was afraid of me. It was the same old, same old. "Bye…" I muttered, running off.

I ran down a couple different streets and turned into the alley that guided me to my way home. The alley parted into a forest; a little ways into the forest was a small cabin made of bundles of sticks, aka my home. I pushed back the curtain I used for a door and walked inside, sitting on the dirt floor.

_Of course she doesn't want to see you! You just intruded on her fight. You saw what happened; Blaze could fight for herself. Maybe she _wanted _to fight. Why did you have to interrupt?_

_Why do you care?_

Faintly in the distance, I could hear someone cry out in frustration. The cry matched my thoughts.

---

I stayed at my hut until it was dark out, then decided to roam the streets.

I don't know why I decided to do that. Usually I never go outside after dark. But that night I decided to do something different. Maybe I'd use the few rings I had to go get something to eat: a treat, like ice cream. I perked up at the thought of the sugary treat and nearly forgot about my earlier incident with Blaze.

Nearly.

At the nearest supermarket, I ran inside and bought a popsicle, paying for it with only one ring. I opened the wrapper before I even left the store. I guess I needed the extra sugar. Licking my treat slowly to savor the flavor, I roamed up and down the streets absentmindedly.

A scream caught my attention.

This wasn't just any scream: it was a scream in pain, a cry for help, and I felt like I'd heard the person's voice before. The popsicle fell from my hand as I ran to check it out.

Three more bullies had Blaze cornered _again!_

Unlike the earlier bully, I recognized these three immediately. They were the teenager's henchmen, doing most of his dirty work. Obviously the earlier bully had sent these three to get revenge.

At first the attack was pretty pathetic stuff: a rabbit held Blaze up by psychokinesis, and the other two threw rocks at her. "Stop it!" Blaze screamed. My body tensed as I searched for the right moment to strike, the right thing to say. It would be three on one; I couldn't hold them off on my own.

But then a hedgehog snapped. He pushed the rabbit holding Blaze up and caused him to lose his concentration; Blaze fell to the ground and lay still. I gasped and fought to stay quiet. _Not yet. Wait for the right opportunity, Silver._

The hedgehog wasn't done yet. He ran over to Blaze and began kicking her repeatedly. By the way the other boys were trying to hold him back, the hedgehog wasn't going to stop. He was in a trance. "What're you going to do, kill her?" One of the boys snapped.

_Do something, hedgehog! _My brain screamed at me. I had to do something before the boys hurt her worse!

What I did was weak, but I had luck today. "Hey, kids!" I shouted, keeping my voice low. The three boys jumped up. "Someone's coming!" One of them gasped. "Come on, guys! Let's go!"

I chuckled a little as the boys ran away, but tried to focus at the task at hand, running to Blaze. Her eyes were shut, but she was still breathing. I sighed in relief. Blaze was only unconscious.

Her clothing was scratched and dirty from hitting the ground, and a multitude of bruises were already forming across her skin. I had no choice- I had to take her to somewhere safe in case the boys came back again. Grunting, I grabbed her and managed to pick her up shakily. There was only one safe place I could think of- my cabin.

I had to put down Blaze once to catch my breath, and by that time I figured out I could use my psychokinesis to help me. Still carrying her, I managed to use psychokinesis to at least make her a little lighter. I didn't have to stop again the whole time I ran to my cabin.

As soon as I got there, I set Blaze down, unfolding a blanket I often used as a bed for her to lay on.

I had bought a small first aid kit a couple weeks ago, just in case I ever got hurt. Surprisingly enough, it was unopened, collecting dust on the floor against the wall. I grabbed it, but it took me about two minutes to find a pair of scissors to break open the plastic. Once I had done so, I opened the first aid kit to find an ice pack, a couple rolls of bandages and gauze, a bunch of smaller bandages, and other things. The ice pack was useless here, but the bandages I could actually use. I turned to Blaze and studied her carefully.

I hadn't noticed how differently she was until that moment. It was almost regal- her jacket especially. Her jacket was deep purple in color, edged in dark pink. The cuffs were lined with faux fur and she wore a gold necklace. If she was basically homeless like me, why did she dress so fancy?

On her arm I found what I was looking for: a slight tear in her jacket and a dark stain. It looked like one of the rocks the boys had thrown at her actually had punctured her skin. I took her jacket sleeve and managed to roll it up to her shoulder. I was right: there was a cut on her upper arm. It wasn't serious, and only needed to be bandaged up; still, I found myself examining her arm.

Her skin was strange. It was still lavender, but it was almost transparent! Looking closely, I saw orange underneath her skin, like fire. Why did she have fire under her skin? I remembered what the first bully had called her. Fire-cat. Did she have fire powers?

_Quit daydreaming, Sil! Focus now, ask questions later: bandage her arm._

Blaze's arm occupied my thoughts as I grabbed the roll of bandage from the first aid kit. However, I was brought back to earth as someone screamed.

Well, at least Blaze was awake now. I couldn't help but smile when she screamed. She did exactly what I'd thought she'd do: examine her surroundings, then panic. I tossed the bandage roll up into the air and caught it expertly. "Hi," I greeted her.

Blaze didn't answer, so I sat down next to her, unraveling the bandage and wrapping it around her arm. "You're pretty beat up…" I said as I unrolled more bandage. "Are you going to tell me why?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. Blaze still didn't speak, and watched me bandage her arm. Feeling awkward, I focused intently on her bandage.

Suddenly Blaze just snapped. She jumped up and the bandage roll left my hands, flying across the room. Surprised, I fell over. "What're you doing?" I asked, lying on the ground.

She backed up until her back was against the wall, pushing her jacket sleeve down. The bandage stuck out from the cuff of her sleeve, and I fought not to laugh. "What's wrong?" I asked instead.

Blaze gave me a cold-hearted stare. "Don't you 'what's wrong' me," She hissed, her gold eyes leaping with cold fire. "Don't you come near me… you're just like all the others. Who cares if I'm different? I'm not just the fire-cat or the pyrofreak. I'm Blaze the cat. Why can't you psychokinetics accept it?"

Her little speech did nothing but annoy me. I fought the urge to shout in frustration and snapped instead. "Okay, Blaze, how about you tell me _what the heck _you're talking about?"

She pushed her jacket sleeve up and held up her arm, showing me the fire under her skin. Stepping forward, I merely stared at her blankly. My voice was impatient and had no trace of emotion. "Cool. Now can I continue?"

Blaze stared at me like I was from Mars. "You aren't surprised?"

I walked across the room to pick up the fallen roll of bandage, then faced her. "In case you didn't notice, I'm not usually included in the 'you psychokinetic' genre, so the accusations aren't really necessary. If you'll excuse me…" I lifted up her arm and began bandaging it again. This time she actually let me, blushing. I looked at the expression on her face and grinned. "I'm kidding," I told her, "I'm kidding. Calm down." She blushed even more. Grabbing a pair of scissors, I cut the bandage and finally tied it in a knot.

A rustle caught my attention, and I looked up. The curtain that I used for a door had been ripped off the wall and thrown to the ground. In the dim light of my hut, I made out the figure of an older hedgehog, one of the ones that attacked Blaze earlier. I'd seen him around town before, and this time I actually knew his name… "Kaze?"

Blaze and I both stood up. Something shining was visible in Kaze's hand; I automatically stepped in front of Blaze, protecting her. She grabbed my arm.

"So you're the one who's been protecting her," Kaze growled. His voice was deep and gravelly. "Maybe I am," I said defiantly, staring him down.

Kaze didn't answer to that, but twirled a boomerang between two fingers. The edges to it were filed down into sharp metal points on either end. He threw it, and it twirled quickly in the air, almost invisible to the naked eye. It scraped Blaze's shoulder, but didn't draw blood; she merely jumped and pushed down her jacket sleeve. Kaze caught the boomerang easily.

"Why are you doing this, Kaze?" I asked, pushing Blaze's arm off of me and stepping forward so I could get a better look at him. The red hedgehog didn't answer, throwing the boomerang again. It curved and hit my back with enough force to feel like I was pushed over. Teetering off balance, I fell to my knees. _Get up, Silver! You have to protect Blaze, dang it! _But for once, I was frozen, even as Kaze threw his boomerang again… and again and again…

_He's trying to knock the cabin down!_

Finally I reacted, jumping up. Kaze was cutting the ties that bound the walls of my house together. I hadn't chosen the branches just because they looked cool: they were heavy and sturdy, and would definitely hurt if Blaze and I were crushed underneath them. There was only one option.

I held my arms outstretched and shut my eyes, willing the walls to remain standing. I could feel the psychokinetic energy at my hands, holding up the walls. But even then it was sapping my power. It was like I was holding up all the sticks at once. _Tell Blaze to get out of here! _Said my mind. But I couldn't react to it.

Blaze screamed, but it sounded far away. She ran toward me and threw an arm around my neck, nearly choking me, forcing my arms down. I tried to crane my neck upward so I could see what was happening. Blaze held one hand at the ceiling; bright fire shot out of it, catching the branches and burning them up. Blaze turned around and buried her head into my back; we both fell to the ground, surrounded by fire, smoke, and ash.

We lay there for at least a full minute, the ash covering us like a blanket. Blaze didn't move, but her eyes were wide open, transfixed in fear. I waved my hand in front of her face and forced her to stand. She did so shakily, still staring. "Blaze?" I asked, and sighed. "Please tell me you're shocked and not sleeping with your eyes open. Because that's kind of creepy."

The far-away look in her eyes disappeared as she tried to face me. She stared at my blackened fur; I stared right back at her. We were both streaked with ash.

My hut didn't fare as well as we did. Unfortunately, it burned to the ground. Nothing was left, not even the first aid kit. We had nothing.

Seeing this, Blaze spun around and kicked the ground, apologizing so fast I could hardly hear her. "I'm so sorry, Silver," She stammered. "I just- I mean- I-"

I couldn't help but smile at how embarrassed she was at this. "What? I'm mad? Why would I be? You save us both."

When I'm confused, I talk almost entirely in questions. I have no idea why I do this; it's just that there are so many questions in my mind sometimes, I have to get them out somehow. This was one of those times.

"But- but- but-" Blaze continued.

My smile grew wider as I held out a hand for her to shake. "It's okay, really," I said, trying to sound warm. Blaze ignored the gesture and sat down on the ground, trying to push the soot off her jacket. She paused before speaking. "Wh-why are you being nice to me?"

I stared at her in shock. _She was confused because I was being _nice_ to her?_ "Do I have to have a reason?" I asked, sitting down next to her. Without thinking, I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, looking up at the midnight sky as Blaze thought for a moment. "Well.. kind of, yeah."

I fought the urge to gape at her. _I have to have a _reason? "You've never had a friend before," I said, speaking before I had the chance to think about the words, "Because you're thinking I have some 'ulterior motive' behind all this. I don't, I'm just helping you. Why is that wrong?"

_Why are you speaking like you know all about friendship? You're just like her. You've never had a friend either._

"Because I'm different," Blaze answered, breaking me from the evil thoughts that is my mind.

Just the thought of someone being picked on because they were different angered me. Frowning, I pounded my fist into my hand. "You've been hanging out with the wrong crowd. Do you _want _me to yell at you after you save me? I told you before, I'm not normal. I'm the savior of the underdogs. I don't make many friends protecting the weak. They're afraid of me."

Blaze blushed and bowed her head. I paused, calming myself, and spoke more quietly. "I think we're a team, Blaze… I don't know why we didn't notice it sooner. We save each other. We're meant to be together… no matter what Kaze and his groupies say… we're a team. We're partners."

I grabbed her shoulder and forced us both to stand, continuing my little speech. "Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat, defenders of the week. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?" I laughed, but kept my face serious for the last words. I made eye connection, her gold eyes staring back into mine- mirror images, the exact same golden color. "Blaze, I won't let anything happen to you. I will _never _leave you. Ever."

"Same," Blaze muttered, embarrassed.

I stuck out my hand for her to shake once more. "Team?"

This time she actually shook it. "Team."

_Never leave Blaze. Ever. It's my mission. We will _never _be apart. I will never let a repeat of the Kaze incident happen. Teammates- Partners- are meant to stick together. We will never be separated._

You see what I mean? People do change- especially me and Blaze. I guess my promise to her is what caused my insecurity. I may be insecure, as Blaze often reminds me, but I'm just as arrogant and naïve as ever. And Blaze? She's changed, too. She's not the scared little pyrokinetic cat she was when she was young. Now she's seemingly strong, calm, and cold, but she's got a temper- especially when it comes to me. Somehow, when we're by ourselves, our old personalities shines through. I can see the timid cat in Blaze and she can see the thoughtful hedgehog in me. That's just a part of knowing each other, I guess. Reverting back to our original state.

Together Blaze and I make the perfect team. Blaze is the warrior, as even one glance at her hands bursting into flame can send people running. I, Silver the Hedgehog, am the talker, and my naivety and ability to talk us out of situations have saved our butts on countless occasions.

_Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat, defenders of the week. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?_

**-END-**

_**Author's Note:**_

**This story was originally told through Blaze's point of view. However, I got bored, and switched it to Silver's instead. I may put up Blaze's point of view if I ever get around to editing it. Hope you enjoyed this!**

**Twila**


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